Jane Hyslop
Jane Hyslop is an artist with particular interest in artists’ books and she lectures in the Schools of Art and Design at Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh. She was born in Edinburgh in 1967 and has lived in Midlothian throughout her life. Place continues to be key to Hyslop’s work as she explores her surroundings. Through her work she has documented the decline of the mining industry, the dereliction of former mine workings, railways and other man made sites in parallel with the regeneration of this land in her native Midlothian. |
This has led to an interest in gardens and man’s attempt to control nature - the underlying thrust of her work examines the push and pull of the relationship between human activity and nature’s resilience.
Her books are held in numerous collections including the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Tate Library and Yale Center for British Art.
Her books are held in numerous collections including the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Tate Library and Yale Center for British Art.
The Gardens | Edinburgh and La Géometrie Pratique
This illustrated paper will focus on my own work and in particular on a series of recent books and folios made for two exhibitions that were held in Scotland this year. Each body of work is site specific, they include historical references and are linked with existing volumes – a method of research key to my current practice.
The Gardens | Edinburgh examines the design and laying out of gardens generally with reference to John Reid’s book ‘The Scots Gard’ner’ of 1683 and to Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh specifically. This was exhibited in the RSA Galleries, Edinburgh as an invited body of work during the Visual Arts Scotland annual exhibition. This building once housed the Board of Manufacturers for Scotland that was tasked with strengthening Scotland’s economy during the 18th century and the work examines how the linen industry in Scotland was used to do this through a reliance on improving craft and ‘good design’. This ethos eventually led to the foundation of Edinburgh College of Art.
La Géometrie Pratique was made for the exhibition Curved Stream that continues at Traquair House in the Scottish Borders until 31st October. It responds to volumes from the famous library at Traquair with reference to the gardens in the grounds. The title for this work is borrowed from a series of books published in Paris in 1702 that are adorned with technical and geometrical drawings set within images of landscapes, gardens and grand chateaux.
The starting points for each of these projects lie firmly within libraries and are contained between the pages of books. The resulting works push the boundaries of the book and explore three-dimensional possibilities based around geometry while reflecting forms taken from the city and the garden.